Cabinet for household refrigerators, etc.



p 1956 J. P. STOCKTON 2,761,751

CABINET FOR HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS, ETC

Filed Jan. 12, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I.

LJ Ll INVENTOR. J. POTTER STOCKTON F|G.7. B

ATTORNEYS Sept. 4, 1956 J. P. STOCKTON 2,761,751 CABINET FOR HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS. ETC Filed Jan. 12,- 1953 4 sheets-sheet 2 FIG. 2.

IN V EN TOR.

ATTOE/VEYS' J. 'POTTER STOCKTON Sept. 4, 1956 J p STOCKTON 2,761,751

CABINET FOR HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS, ETC Filed Jan. 12. 1953 4 sheets-sheet 3 n n n n- 6 i TV ulf-25:

INVENTOR. J. POTTER STOCKTON BY M q QWMQBL 4 Sheet s-Sheet 4 J. P. STOCKTON CABINET FOR HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS. ETC

Sept. 4, 1956 Fzled Jan 12, 1955 x u i N FIG. 5.

FIG. 6.

INVENTOR. J. POTTER STOCKTON A TTOENE V5.

United States Patent CABINET FOR HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS, ETC.

Jack Potter Stockton, Spring Lake, N. 1.; Louise Haines Stockton, executrix of said Jack Potter Stockton, deceased, assignor to herself Application January 12, 1953, Serial No. 330,619 6 Claims. (Cl. 312-274) This invention relates to cabinets, and more particularly to cabinets designed and used as household refrigerators.

Because of the large number of food articles and food and beverage containers which must be or desirably are stored in the limited space of the average household refrigerator, and because of the widely varying sizes, shapes and heights of the articles and containers, many of the articles and containers necessarily are more or less hidden in back of or under other articles and containers. Consequently it is ditficult to locate any particular item, unless it happens to be right on the front of a shelf, and usually it is necessary to remove and replace, or rearrange, a number of items in order to locate and remove the desired article or container. This is a serious inconvenience, resulting in a waste of time n and making it necessary to keep the cabinet door open longer than would be necessary if all of the contents of the refrigerator were made readily accessible immediately upon opening the door. Moreover, in the average household the articles and containers stored in the refrigerator are packed closely together and against the walls of the cabinet in hit-or-miss relation, thus interfering with the circulation of the air in the cabinet necessary for the proper refrigeration of all parts of the cabinet.

it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cabinet in which the space within the cabinet is used more efiiciently than in refrigerators now available on the market. It is a further object of the invention to provide a cabinet in which all articles stored therein will be made easily accessible when the door is opened and in which any article may be individually removed and replaced without the necessity for manually moving other articles stored in the cabinet. It also is an object of the invention to provide a cabinet in which the shelving is divided approximately midway between the front and the back of the cabinet and in which the shelving in the front part of the cabinet automatically moves out and to the sides of the opening when the door is opened. Another object of the invention is to provide a cabinet in which all articles stored in the front part of the cabinet are individually held in place on their shelves or holders so that they cannot shift position during the movement of the shelves, and in which any article may be easily removed from its shelf or holder. Still another object is to provide a fitted cabinet in which the shelving is designed to accommodate the articles which are to be stored therein, and in which the air is free to circulate within the cabinet so as to insure proper refrigeration of all parts of the cabinet.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating how my improvements may be embodied in a refrigerator, for example:

Figure l is a front view of a fitted refrigerator cabinet, showing the door open. In order to disclose the construction better the door is shown opened wider than swung out of the cabinet in Figure 1.

is permitted in normal use, and the swinging shelves on the left are not fully swung out of the cabinet as they would be when the cabinet door is open;

' Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the cabinet taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1, except that it shows the door in normal fullyopen position and also shows the relative position of the swinging shelves when the door is in such position;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the refrigerator, from the lefthand side as viewed in Figure l, with the side wall of the cabinet broken away to disclose the arrangement of the shelves when the door is closed;

Figure 4- is a schematic skeleton view of the cabinet from the same side as Figure 3, showing the movable shelf frame which supports the rear shelves and the mechanism for moving the shelf frame forward and back in the cabinet;

Figures 5 and 6 are sectional views taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 4, showing further details of the mechanism for moving the shelf frame for- Ward and back; and

Figure 7 shows details of one of the rotatable stands and discloses a spider arrangement for individually holding articles on the stand.

According to the present invention, the shelves within the cabinet, except for the bottom shelf, do not extend unbroken from front to back, but are divided into rear shelves which occupy approximately the rear half of the cabinet and front shelves which occupy approximately the lront half of the cabinet when the cabinet door is closed. he shelves in the front part of the cabinet are further divided and are mounted so that they swing outwardly and to opposite sides of the door opening automatically when the door is opened. Thus the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet are fully exposed so as to permit the removal and placing of articles thereon without the necessity for manually shifting any article on the shelves which occupy the front part of the cabinet when the door is closed. in order to make the bottom shelf and the rear shelves even more readily accessible, they desirably are mounted in a frame which moves forward automatically when the door is opened, so as to bring the rear shelves into the front part of the cabinet which has been vacated by the front shelves swinging outwardly. Thus, by merely opening the door the entire contents of the cabinet are placed at the finger tips of the housewife.

Referring first to Figures 1-3, disclosing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, the refrigerator cabinet designated generally by the reference numeral 15 has a front opening and associated door 16 hinged to the cabinet at one side of said opening, the righthand side as viewed in Figure 1. Normally the door 16 will be prevented by a link connection 17 from opening as far as is shown in Figure l, but for purposes of better disclosing the arrangement of the shelves and article holders on the inside of the door the door is shown in this view as if the link 17 had been disconnected and the door opened through an angle of from its closed position. Also, in order that the construction and arrangement of the interpolated swinging shelves or article holders mounted in the cabinet opening opposite the door hinges may be better understood, these swinging shelves are shown only partially Figure 2 shows the relative positions of the door and the swinging shelves when the door is open and the entire contents of the cabinet have been made accessible for the placement or shelves and food and container holders, some of these shelves and holders being entirely recessed in the door, and others only partially recessed in the door. In the illustrative embodiment there are two rotatable shelves orstands 18, 19, mounted one above the other in the rounded edge of the door adjacent the hinged side for holding bottles or jars. Below the rotatable stand 19 is shown a shelf 20 suitable, for example, for supporting a container or containers for holding vegetables and the like. To the right of the stands 18, 19, as viewed in Figure l, are a plurality of narrow shelves 21 mounted one above the other which are suitable for holding bars or packages of butter, lard, cheese and the like. Below these shelves 21 is the shelf 22, shown here as supporting a water bottle. To the right of the shelves 21, in the rounded edge of the door opposite the upper hinge, is shown another rotatable stand 23 which might be used for holding cream bottles, small jars of salad dressing and pickles, and various other items of similar size. Spaced below the stand 23 are two egg holders 24, 25, and below the holder 25 is a shelf 26 suitable for holding a loaf of bread. In the bottom part of the door there is shown a shelf 27 for holding quart size beverage bottles, and to the right of this are shelves 28 and 29 for holding jars or food containers.

The shelves 27, 28 and 29 in the lower part of the door preferably are recessed entirely within the door. Thus the bottom shelf within the cabinet proper may extend for the full depth of the cabinet. The rotatable stands 18, 19 and 23, and the shelves 20, 21, 22 and 26 are only partially recessed within the door and the sizes of these stands and shelves are made such that they project approximately halfway back into the cabinet when the door is closed.

It will be noted that a majority of the stands and shelves on the door intended for holding the heavier items are located toward the hinged edge of the door. When the door is closed these stands and shelves will occupy the righthand part of the front portion of the cabinet. The rotatable stand 23, the egg holders 24, 25 and the shelf 26 located in the righthand side of the cabinet door, as viewed in Figure 1, preferably will be used for holding smaller and lighter articles, and these shelves are spaced from each other in the vertical direction. When the cabinet door is closed these latter shelves and holders are interpolated with the swinging shelves mounted at the lefthand edge of the cabinet opening, so that together they occupy the lefthand part of the front portion of the cabinet, extending approximately halfway back into the cabinet.

In the illustrative embodiment two swinging shelves 30, 33 are shown. Suitable mechanism for turning the swing ing shelves out of the cabinet automatically when the door is opened so as to expose the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet will be described hereinafter. When the door is closed this swinging self will extend partly into the door and will lie under the rotatable stand 23 and above the bread shelf 26. This swinging shelf 30 may be provided also with additional egg holders 31, 32 as shown, which are vertically offset with respect to the egg holders 24, 25 so that when the door is closed they will lie closely spaced one above the other as shown in Figure 3. By placing alternate egg holders on the door and on the swinging shelf 30 it will be much easier to insert or remove the eggs when the door is open than it would be if all of the egg holders were arranged one above the other on the door. Moreover the interpolated arrangement of the egg holders permits closer vertical spacing and makes it practically impossible for any egg to be thrown out of its holder when the door is closed. The lower swinging shelf 33 shown in the illustrative embodiment occupies the space in the front part of the cabinet beneath the bread shelf 26 when the door is closed.

Each of the shelves and rotatable stands on the cabinet dooris constructed soas to hold individually the articles placed thereon. The shelves 20, 21, 26-29 are Provided with upwardly extending edge and side flanges to prevent articles from sliding off of the shelves. The edge flanges preferably are low, for example of the order of /4 to inch in height, but the side flanges may be higher. To remove any article from the shelves it is necessary merely to lift the front edge of the article the slight distance necessary to clear the flanged edge of the shelf and then to withdraw the article. When a shelf is to hold two or more articles in side by side arrangement, as does shelf J in the illustrative embodiment, the shelf preferably is provided with ridges or other means for holding the articles thereon against sliding when the door is opened or closed. The rotatable stands 18, 19 and 23, intended for holding articles which are relatively tall as compared to their diameters, are provided with upwardly extending marginal flanges which are higher than those described for the other shelves, so as to prevent tipping of the articles when the stands are rotated and when the door is opened or closed. In order to prevent circumferential movement or shifting of articles on the stand when it is rotated, and to prevent the crowding of articles against each other which might make it more difficult to remove a desired article, each rotatable stand disclosed herein desirably has an upwardly extending hub and a spider comprising a plurality of arms extending radially from the hub, these arms serving as separators between articles placed on the stand. Any article may be removed from a rotatable stand merely by turning the stand until the desired article is in front, and then lifting the article and simultaneously tilting it as necessary to clear the overhanging stand or shelf.

It will be understood that the arrangement of the shelves and rotatable stands on the door, and the number and arrangement of the swinging shelves may be modified and varied from the showing of the illustrative embodiment, as long as the swinging shelves and the shelves on the door together occupy approximately the front half of the cabinet in interpolated relation when the door is closed, and as long as the shelves in the front part of the cabinet swing outwardly to opposite sides of the cabinet when the door is opened to expose the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet.

Located in the rear part of the cabinet 15 are a plurality of shelves which occupy that portion of the cabinet not occupied by the swinging shelves and the shelves on the door when the door is closed. The shelves in the rear part'of the cabinet may be fixedly mounted therein, or desirably they will be mounted so as to be moved forward automatically into the front part of the cabinet vacated by the forward shelves as they move outwardly when the door is opened. In the illustrative embodiment the shelves occupying the rear part of the cabinet are mounted in a shelf frame which is brought forward automatically when the door is opened. Desirably the swinging shelves are connected to the shelf frame so as to be moved out and to the side of the cabinct as the shelf frame moves forward, as will be described hereinafter.

The shelf frame includes the vertical side members 36, horizontal side members 37 and cross members 38 at the top, bottom and back. As shown, the shelf frame is provided on its sides with rollers or ball bearings 39 supporting the frame on horizontal rails 40 secured to the side walls of the cabinet.

As can be seen from the drawings, the bottom shelf 41 secured in the lower end of the frame extends substantially the full width and depth of the cabinet, and the vertical. space above this shelf to the next shelf 42, which may be of the order of 20% to 30% of the total height of the cabinet, is greater than the spacing above any of the other shelves 43-46. Thus, the bottom shelf provides adequate space to receive large articles of food and large containers which it may be desired to place in the refrigerator, such as a watermelon, a turkey, a large ham or roast, large sacks of fruit and vegetables, and the like. This bottom shelf 41 may be used, of course, for other articles.

As can best be seen in Figure 3, the other shelves and stands in the shelf frame extend only about halfway forward of the cabinet. Since the depth of the cabinet in most household refrigerators is about from 18 to 22 inches, these shelves 42-45 will be approximately 9 to 11 inches in depth and will accommodate the ordinary pie plates, salad bowls, and the like. If it is desired to provide space for an unusually large cake plate or the like this can be done by having a shelf extend forward a slightly greater distance, as shown for shelf 46.

The shelf frame desirably is provided with several rotatable stands of the Lazy Susan type mounted one above the other as shown at 47-49. Each of these rotatable stands desirably is fitted with a plurality of jars or other food containers of uniform height, and these containers desirably are individually held on the rotatable stand so that they cannot shift position when the stand is turned. To accommodate different sized containers and articles of different height, the vertical clearances above these several rotatable stands desirably are not uniform. Desirably each rotatable stand is provided with an upwardly extending marginal flange of the order of A1" to in height to reduce likelihood that any article will be left projecting beyond the margin of the stand when the article is placed thereon, and to prevent articles from sliding off of the stand if it is rotated rapidly. Desirably the vertical clearance over a rotatable stand is made such that when an article is placed on the stand, or is lifted to be removed therefrom, the clearance between the top of the article and the rotatable stand or shelf above it is less than an inch. This not only insures efficient utilization of the space, but reduces the likelihood of any article tipping on the stand if it is rotated rapidly or if the shelf frame is moved forward or back within the cabinet rapidly.

The number, form and arrangement of the shelves and rotatable stands mounted in the shelf frame may be modified and varied from the showing of the illustrative embodiment as long as they occupy substantially all of the space not occupied by the front shelves, without interference therewith.

Illustrative mechanism for bringing the rear shelves forward in the cabinet automatically as the cabinet door is opened is shown in the drawings, particularly in Figures 46. For purposes of illustration the cabinet walls are omitted, being represented by a skeleton frame.

The outer end of the link 17 is pivotally and slidably connected at 50 to the inside of the door 16 adjacent its lower edge. The other end of the link 17 extends into the cabinet below the bottom shelf 41 and the shelf frame and is pivotally connected at 51 to the levers 52 and 53, intermediate the ends of these levers. One end of the lever 52 is pivotally connected at 54 at the side of the cabinet below the shelf frame. Rigidly secured on the lever 52 intermediate the pivotal connections 51 and 54 is an arm 55 extending forwardly in the cabinet. Connected to the end of this arm 55 is one end of a tension coil spring 56, the other end of which is connected to one end of the lever 53.

Projecting downwardly from the bottom of the shelf frame, midway between its sides, are two pins 57, 58, spaced one in back of the other and connected at their lower ends by the link 59. The free end of the lever 53, i. e. the end opposite its connection to the spring 56, extends between these pins 57, 58. When the cabinet door is closed the position of the parts will be as shown in Figures 4 and 6. The shelf frame is in the rear part of the cabinet and the free end of the lever 53 is pressed back against the pin 58 by the link 17. The coil spring 56 is under tension.

When the catch which holds the door closed is released 6 by the housewife to open the refrigerator, the tensioned spring56 turns the lever 53 about the pin 58 as a fulcrum, causing the door to spring open slightly. Then as the door is pulled open by the housewife the link 17 causes the lever 52 to turn, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figures 5 and 6, about its pivot 54. The free end of the lever 52 clears the pin 58 and, as the door is opened further, engages the pin 57. By this time the shelves on the door 16 which occupied the front part of the cabinet have been moved outwardly a sufficient distance to provide room for the rear shelves to begin 'moving forward. Upon continuation of the door opening movement the free end of the lever 52, pressing against the pin 57, pulls the shelf frame forward in the cabinet, the frame rolling on the rails 40. A suitable stop is provided to halt the forward movement of the shelf frame when it has reached the position substantially as shown in Figure 5. Upon further opening of the door the stud 50 in the outer end of the link 17 slides in its slot 60 in the lower edge of the door until the position is substantially as shown in Figure 5, at which point further opening of the door is checked. The coil spring 56 hangs loose.

As the door 16 is closed, from the position shown in Figure 5, the stud 50 in the outer end of the link 17 first slides to the other end of the slot 60, and then the link 17 begins to turn the lever 52 in a clockwise direction about its end pivot 54. As soon as the free end of the lever 52 engages the pin 58 it pushes the shelf frame backwardly in the cabinet until it reaches the rear of the cabinet, at which point the free end of the lever 52 slides off of the pin 58, and the coil spring 56 is again placed under tension by the counterclockwise turning of the lever 53.

It will be evident from the foregoing description that as the door 16 is opened the shelf frame holding the rear shelvesjis brought forward into the front part of the cabinet, but only after a short initial delay which permits the shelves on the door to move out of the way. Then as the cabinet door is closed, the shelf frame is pushed back into the rear part of the cabinet to provide space for the shelves on the door.

It will be understood that the mechanism disclosed for moving the rear shelves forward and back in the cabinet automatically asthe door is opened and closed is illustrative.

Suitable mechanism for moving the swinging shelves 30 and 33 out of the cabinet as the door is opened and back into the cabinet as the door is closed is illustrated in the drawings, particularly in Figures 2 .and 3. The shelf 33 is pivotally supported at 34, inside the cabinet adjacent the open front. A link 35 is pivotally connected at its ends to the swinging shelf 33 and to the shelf frame. When the cabinet door is closed the relation of the parts is as shown in Figure 3. As the door is opened, the shelf frame is moved forward in the cabinet, as described hereinabove, and the link 35 moves the shelf 33 about its pivot 34 out and to the side of the opening. Upon' closing the door the movement of the shelf frame causes the swinging shelf to move back into the cabinet. .T he swinging shelf 30 is pivotally supported at 34 and is moved in and out of the cabinet by a link 35 similar to the link 35.

It will be obvious that the number of rotatable stands, the vertical spacing between shelves, and the number and form of the swinging shelves may vary depending on family requirements. A family having one or more babies may require more room for milk and formula bottles, whereas a family composed entirely of adults may wish more room for bottled beverages. With the refrigerator cabinet of the present invention it will be a simple matter to interchange shelves, rotatable stands and swinging shelves to meet the needs.

I claim:

1. A refrigerator cabinet having an opening in one of its faces for access to its interior, a door to close said opening hinged to the cabinet at one side of said opening, shelves for supporting articles in the rear part of said cabinet, which shelves extend only about halfway forward in the cabinet toward the opening, other shelves for sup porting articles in the front part of the cabinet, which shelves occupy the front part of the cabinet unoccupied by the rear shelves when the door is closed, some of the shelves in the front part of the cabinet being mounted on the door to swing out of the cabinet to one side as the door is opened and others being movably mounted in the cabinet at the opposite side of the door opening to swing out to the other side, mounting structure for the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet permitting them to be moved forward and back within the cabinet, linkage -means interconnecting the door and the rear shelves for automatically moving the rear shelves toward the front of the cabinet as the door is opened, and further linkage means interconnecting rear shelves and the swinging front shelves at the said opposite side of the door opening to swing the latter outwardly to the side when the rear shelves are moved forward.

2. A refrigerator cabinet as defined in claim 1, in which the linkage means interconnecting the door and the rear shelves includes spring mechanism which delays forward movement of the rear shelves until after the door has been partly opened, and which moves the shelves fully back to the rear of the cabinet before the door is completely closed.

3. A cabinet as defined in claim 1, in which the rear shelves .are mounted in a frame which is interconnected with the door so that the rear shelves move forward as a unit as the dooris opened, and move back to the rear of the cabinet as a unit as the door is closed.

4. A cabinet as defined in claim 1, in which the rear shelves are mounted in a frame, and in which the frame includes rolling bearings resting on horizontal rails secured to the side walls of the cabinet.

5. A refrigerator cabinet having an opening in one of its faces for access to its interior, a door to close said opening hinged to the cabinet at one side of said opening, Shelves for supporting articles in the rear part of said cabinet, which shelves extend only about halfway forward in the cabinet toward the opening, other shelves for supporting articles in the front part of the cabinet, which shelves occupy the front part of the cabinet unoccupied by the rear shelves when the door is closed, some of the shelves in the front part of the cabinet being movably mounted relative to the cabinet at one side of the door opening and others being movably mounted relative to the cabinet at the opposite side of the door opening, means operatively associated with the door for moving the shelves in the front part of the cabinet out of the cabinet and to the opposite sides of the opening automatically when the door is opened, mounting structure for the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet permitting them to be moved forward and back within the cabinet, and means for automatically moving the rear shelves toward the front of the cabinet as the front shelves are moved out of the cabinet to provide easy access to all of the shelves in the cabinet, the means for moving the rear shelves being operative to begin movement of the shelves forward only after the door has been partly opened, and being operative to complete movement of the shelves back to the rear of the cabinet before the door is completely closed. 6. A refrigerator cabinet having an opening in one of its faces for access to its interior, a door to close said opening hinged to the cabinet at one side of said opening, shelves for supporting articles in the rear part of said cabinet, which shelves extend only about halfway forward in the cabinet toward the opening, other shelves for supporting articles in the front part of the cabinet, which shelves occupy the front part of the cabinet unoccupied by the rear shelves when the door is closed, some of the shelves in the front part of the cabinet being movably mounted relative to the cabinet at one side of the door opening and others being movably mounted relative to the cabinet at the opposite side of the door opening, means operatively associated with the door for moving the shelves in the front part of the cabinet out of the cabinet and to the opposite sides of the opening automatically when the door is opened, mounting structure for the shelves in the rear part of the cabinet permitting them to be moved forward and back within the cabinet, and means for automatically moving the rear shelves toward the front of the cabinet as the front shelves are moved out of the cabinet to provide easy access to all of the shelves in the cabinet, the bottom shelf in the rear part of the cabinet being closely spaced to the bottom of the cabinet and extending substantially the full depth of the cabinet, and the shelves in the front part of the cabinet opposite the said bottom shelf being recessed within the door.

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